Bicycle MechanicsBroken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

Has anyone had any trouble with the Huffy F.I.S derailleur? Mine changes speeds OK, but will often TICK in time with the peddle rotation after I have changed gears. One way to stop it is to reverse the pedal rotation for a half turn then continue pedaling.

Does anyone know what causes that noise? Huffy don't seem to know. It's only a year old, but did it from the beginning. I got it from Wal*Mart, but they're not mechanics. Other shops have never heard of that problem.

The DRs fitted to Huffys and other box-store bikes are the cheapest possible to make, usually made of stamped steel. That being said, they usually work sort-of-OK if kept in adjustment.

The ticking sounds like a cable-tension adjustment problem. The chain is trying to catch the next highest cog, and not quite making it. If it's trying to shift "down" to the bigger cog, you need to release a bit of tension.
There are plenty of guides for adjusting the DR, try the Park Tool site.

i had a rear huffy deraileur on my roadbike, it does tend to click alot, plus it would aggravate me and would not stay in correct chain positio. so i changed it out with a shimano tourney, works great. i suggest to change it

Please never buy a huffy ever again. After you fix this, something else will begin to go wrong. Bikes from xmart (walmart, kmart etc) are ALWAYS terrible and ALWAYS more trouble than they are worth. Obvious to many, but worth repeating sometimes.

Please never buy a huffy ever again. After you fix this, something else will begin to go wrong. Bikes from xmart (walmart, kmart etc) are ALWAYS terrible and ALWAYS more trouble than they are worth. Obvious to many, but worth repeating sometimes.

That said, the gears cannot get 'out of order.'

i fixed my bike and it's fixed for good, but again back then in the 70's my bike was qualified as a good bike, but not anymore

I think the real message here is that your Huffy can provide some recreational value to you. It's heavy and more tempermental to adjust than a bike with a higher level drivetrain. Treat it as basic transportation or a learning tool that you can practice on. Read up on the Sheldon Brown http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/hub.html & Park Tool http://www.parktool.com/index.asp Websites to learn how it works. Ride it, tune it and then you can really appreciate the time later when you get a real bike and you know how to select a good value that fits your needs and to do your own maintenance. Enjoy and remember to 'Share the Road' (Trails).

Yes you can replace your RD, SRAM makes a RD with a "claw" mount, which is designed to fit most dept store bikes.

More importantly though, look at your cables, and if you see rust, replace them with a quality set...some of the better ones are stainless steel. Sad part though is an RD + cables is probably more than the cost of a dept store bike. With bad cables, you will never get a good shift, since shifting is purely tension and friction, and with a bad cable set, you cannot be assure consitent friciton nor tension.

Get the cheapest one you can find. You don't want to sink too much money into that bike. Even the lowest level Shimano Tourney RD is going to be better than what you have. You will also want to familiarise yourself with how to install and adjust a rear derailleur. Park Tool has a good webpage on how to adjust the RD.

That just has to be a TYPO, or do the REAL INTO BIKES guys spend $925 for derailleurs? ParkTool sure has some good information on adjusting shifters. You guys have given me a lot to think about, & that info from Catatonic makes a LOT of sense. That's what it's all about --- CABLES, TENSION, & FRICTION !!! I may keep working on the Huffy for a spare bike.

Since I'm not a real bike enthusiast like most of you, I think the thing for me to do is pick up a Schwinn cruiser 7 speed hub shifter. Let the hub do the shifting. ) And besides, I like the Springer front forks. I guess my speeding days are over, so if you pass me on the road don't laff at me.

That just has to be a TYPO, or do the REAL INTO BIKES guys spend $925 for derailleurs?

Well, seeing as Selle Italia is selling a saddle covered with gold laminated iguana leather for around $2,000 each, it's not hard to fathom that someone out there is marketting a $1,000 rear derailleur. However, I guarantee you that it won't be a Shimano Tourney.